Red Right Hand
by CocoPixie
Summary: Eight friends walk into a haunted manor to experience the horror they've been told about only to find it was much worse than they expected. Will they be alive to survive or will they be lost like the rest of the wandering souls in the manor? And who is the tall handsome man in dusty black coat with a red right hand?
1. Arrival

**Author Notes:** Welcome to the first chapter of my very first fanfiction, please be kind and if you have feedback, whether it is a critique or admiration I welcome it! Again this is the first chapter so if there is need for improvement let me know! Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Arrival

Run, Run, Run, Run, RUN!

That's all that was on Eva's mind. She sprinted down the hallway. Various curse words uttering from her mouth. Her red and black sneakers squeezing against the hardwood floor as she ran.

She could hear the sound of the meat cleaver scraping the wooden floor. She knew who was in possession of it and it only scared her more.

Eva came to a sudden stop as she reached the end of the hallway. The broken balcony edge would've been the death of her if she continued to run blindly.

The sound of the cleaver got louder and louder and Eva turned around, fists clenching, eyes wide with fear, unsure of how to escape and scared that this was indeed the end of her.

 **One week ago…**

"I can't wait to meet everyone again!" Mara said as they arrived at the Cumbrian airport in England. She was so giddy about this. This reunion with her college friends. She was now a medical receptionist for at a hospital in California so she was quite busy and barely contacted anyone. So she was certainly surprised when Adam and Rick contacted her out of the blue but she was happy regardless. Being with her friends was fantastic, it had been so long. She was glad she was able to get the weeks off to hang out in Great Britain. She did find it odd that her friends called everyone to meet in Cumbria. She had never even heard of it. Then again, Henry and Rick both lived in London. They must know all the scenic places. She moved to grab her green suitcase and rolled it over to her sister, Eva.

"It just seems kind of strange that they contacted us like this. And all the way here?" Eva frowned. She never liked the idea but the only reason she came was…Well she missed her friends. She grabbed her purple suitcase and looked at Mara.

"I mean I guess it's because Adam lives in England but come on, he can't meet all of us halfway? We could've all met in New York. Donald and Henry are there anyway." Eva scoffed. She was grumpy from the jet lag. She was a physician's assistant for the same hospital her sister was a receptionist at. Eva didn't like how sudden this plan was. It better be worth it.

"Relax sis, I'm sure they had a very good reason. Besides it's great to come to England again! Remember last time? We only stayed in London for a few days, it's nice to be here for a week. Rick says the drive to where we're going is about an hour or two, so he's coming to get us… Funny how he never told us where we're staying." Mara walked through the security detectors and her sister followed. They both walked out the doors of the airport with their luggage.

"Yeah that's also why I'm not too excited. Usually that means they have something mischievous planned." Eva frowned.

"Well I mean they've been living here for the past three years they know where the beautiful places are. I even goggled some scenery of Cumbria and it's beautiful." Mara smiled, "It'll be even more beautiful and fun with the gang back together."

"Yup the whole gang, Katherine included." Eva frowned.

"Oh yeah….Well I trust the boys if they invited her it means she's gotten better than senior year and she's become mature. Let's just be nice and hope she'll be nice back." Mara smiled.

"Wishful thinking." Eva looked ahead.

Mara felt her phone buzz in her pocket and took it out. "Oh Rick's coming to pick us up! He says we're the first to arrive!" She showed her sister the text.

Eva just nodded, trying to keep her eyes open.

They waited for about ten minutes in the cold weather of Cumbria. A black jaguar drove up to the girls and at first Eva was a bit suspicious then she saw the 'Almost Famous Author' sticker on the right corner of the windshield and knew who it was.

Rick stopped the car and got out. He hugged both girls. "Sight for sore eyes, huh?" He chuckled.

"Wow Rick you look so different! And I see there's a beard growing!" Mara giggled as she watched Rick gently stroke his beard and wink at her.

"My writer's beard, Mara." He laughed and moved to put their luggage away in the trunk.

Eva huffed and Rick chuckled. "Jet lag, Eva?" He opened the passenger door for Mara.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Eva grumbled.

"Soon as we get to where we're staying, I'll get you some tea. Here in England, tea solves everything." Rick jokes and of course Mara laughs.

"For the sake of everyone, let's hope so." Eva got in the car.

They were soon off and Eva was off too…Off to sleep.

"Hey Rick, so Adam kept this whole thing as vague as possible, but since we're here….Where are we staying?" Mara tilts her head.

"It's a beautiful old manor with a badass name!" Rick smiled as he drove.

"Allerdale Hall."


	2. A Reporter and A Nurse

**A Reporter and a Nurse**

"Thank god we're here! Longest and most boring trip I've ever had!" Katherine grumbled as she got out of the cab. She got her luggage out and looked at the large gate and the long path that lead to the manor.

"Oh no I am NOT walking all that way with my luggage to some creepy ass manor." She was about to put her luggage back in when she saw Henry walking to the large black gates. "Oh thank god." She sighed.

Henry smiled at the blond, "I couldn't let you walk there on your own." He winked and took her bags.

Katherine giggled, "So sweet." She moved to hug him and kiss his cheek.

Henry chuckled and pulled back. He opened the gates with press of a button. He began to walk down the long path to the house.

Katherine began to follow him, only holding her small handbag. She looked up at the sign on the gate. "Allerdale Hall. Huh never heard of it." Katherine skipped over to him.

"It's the secret part of Cumbria." Henry chuckles.

"Secret? You're not taking us here to kill us now are you?" She joked and lightly nudged him.

Henry smirked, "Shh don't spoil the surprise."

They were silent as they finally made it to the doors.

"Allerdale Hall is a noble house belonging to the Sharpe family, it's beautiful and historic and we have the honor of staying in here for a week!" Henry opened the doors and smiled.

"Historic is right. Beautiful...Not the word I'd use. Crumbling sounds better." Katherine raised a brow.

"Katherine come on! It's amazing, imagine what we could learn!" Henry smirked.

"Since when did you become a history professor?" Katherine chuckled.

"You know I have a love of history, even if I'm a nurse doesn't mean I can't have a hobby." Henry smiled.

Katherine raised a brow. "Alright well why here though? It looks like it's going to fall apart." She frowned.

"Well Rick and I were actually in Cumbria, in the central part, we were sight-seeing and people told us about this place, we went to check it out and we decided that this would be the best vacation for everyone!" Henry smiled and set the bags down when they were finally in. He turned to close the doors and looked back at Katherine.

Katherine looked up at the ceiling and noticed the outline of a hole in the roof.

"What happened here?" She frowned.

"Dunno, we saw it like this. Rick and I hired some workers to fix the ceiling so when we stayed here it we wouldn't freeze to death." He chuckled.

"That's quite an expensive project just for us." Katherine looked to Henry.

"Well Rick paid for most of it. They're making a movie based on his book. It paid him a lot too. Did you ever read the copy he sent you?" Henry asked.

"I have other things to do. I'm not into the whole gore and murder books." Katherine shook her head.

"Ah well you should watch the movie then." Henry suggested.

"Yeah no thanks," Katherine walked forward a little, "Well this was definitely worth leaving work for. Instead of reporting celebrities I get to stay at a dump." She moved to stand beside him and screamed when she felt something warm and liquid on her shoes. She looked down and saw the red clay. "Oh my god what the fuck?!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about that, don't worry it's just red clay. The workers said they couldn't really do anything about that, it's too deep in the ground for them to drill it out." Henry shrugged.

"That's not something you should forget about Henry! This could be dangerous!" Katherine stayed close to Henry.

"Don't worry we wouldn't be allowed to stay in here if it was. Come on, I'll show you the rooms." Henry offered his arm.

Katherine huffed, "These were my new shoes...Ugh fine. There better be something here to get this shit off of my boots."

Henry laughed, "Of course, come on Katherine, we're gonna have fun."

Katherine looked at him, "Alright fine. You're lucky I missed you."

Henry chuckles, "I missed you too. Hey maybe you can do a report on the house? It could attract a lot of attention."

"Why? Who the hell would want to come here? Besides us because we're crazy apparently." Katherine scoffed.

Henry chuckles, "Come on Kathy don't be like that."

Katherine frowned, "You know I don't like being call Kathy. Just Katherine. Short names formed from full names is not professional." She looked around, "Where are we going now?"

"To your room then I'll take your boots to clean them." Henry smiled.

Katherine nodded and walked over to the stairs, "Lead the way then."

Henry took her bags again and closed the doors. He turned back to her. He began to walk up the stairs, Katherine behind her. He smiled at her, "It's gonna be a fun week."

"If you say so." Katherine said then began to text her friend as she followed him up the stairs.

As she was walking she swore she could have heard someone whispering.

"What was that Henry? I couldn't hear you?" She asked.

Henry turned to her, "I didn't say anything, come on let's go!"

Katherine shrugged it off and kept walking, she heard the whisper again, this time more clear.

 _"Beware."_


	3. Men in Blue, Woman in Red

**Hi guys just a quick note, I finally did some airport and flight research about the airports and flight lengths from New York to Cumbria lol. I just want everything to be more accurate and I'm glad I was able to get my lazy butt up to research it. So I apologize for earlier chapters if it seemed unrealistic. This chapter is my correction, enjoy!**

 **Men in Blue, Woman in Red**

Adam and Donald were both detectives for NYPD. As anyone would have guessed they've busted criminals, mainly drug dealers. So when they first received an invitation from Rick and Henry about a vacation in Cumberland. They were suspicious, they thought it was a trap and spent some time tracking down the IP address. They even called Rick to be sure it was true. They could hear Rick laughing and calling them paranoid, but he confirmed that it was him. Only then they got excited.

The detectives were still confused as to why Rick never really told them where they'd be staying. He just told them that there would be a taxi waiting for them at the New Castle Airport and the flight time they should take. They took an Uber to the John F. Kennedy International Airport, and boarded their five thirty in the evening flight.

The flight itself was ten hours long, Aer Lingus didn't exactly have the best movies or entertainment so they boys were either sleeping or reading about Cumbria and any sights they'd like to see.

Finally the plane landed at the New Castle Airport at ten in the morning. The detectives grabbed their luggage and exited through security. They walked out the doors of the airport and saw the taxi driver holding a sign with their names on it.

"This is so strange. What is Rick thinking?" Donald frowned.

"I agree. This is...Weird, I almost feel like we're being brought into a trap." Adam sighed and walked over to the taxi, he greeted the taxi driver then put their luggage in the trunk. The blond haired man could hear rushing footsteps approaching him from behind and turned around.

As soon as he did, he was pushed back up against the taxi but not as an act of violence but affection. He was hugged by someone he thought he'd never see for a long time...

Adam laughed, "You scared the shit out of me Isabel!" He hugged her back tightly.

Isabel giggled, "Good!" She hugged him again then moved to hug Donald.

Donald hugged back and smiled. "Yeah, we're already on high alerts because of how quiet Rick is keeping all the details. But it's good that you could make it as well." He stepped back to give her room.

The red head smiled, "I wouldn't miss it for the world. A chance to get the gang back together! And yeah, I wish Rick wasn't so damn mysterious about it either. I nearly trashed the invitation email until he called me."

"Yeah we thought it might have been a set up from an ex drug dealer or his boss." Donald chuckled.

"Oh come on you guys aren't that important." Isabel joked.

Adam laughed and Donald smiled. "We'll take it as a compliment." Donald opened the trunk to help Isabel put her luggage in.

Isabel smiled and opened the taxi door and sat inside. She watched as her friends joined her and the taxi man greeted them once more then started the car.

The trip took a few hours due to traffic, Isabel was whispering to Adam about how her life as a professor had been because Donald fell asleep.

About three hours later, they reached at the gates that read 'Allerdale Hall'. It was one in the afternoon and both Isabel and Adam were tired but relieved to finally be there. They looked at the large manor beyond the gates. Confused and excited looks were exchanged before Adam decided to get out first.

Adam got out of the taxi and looked to the closed gates. He walked over to them and looked around then saw the intercom box. He pressed it and greeted anyone was there.

"Henry? Rick? Hey it's Adam. I'm here with Donald and Isabel….So uh, we're outside the gates if you guys could open them, that'd be awesome, otherwise we'll freeze to death." He removed his finger from the talk button.

"Hey, hey Adam!" Henry's voice echoed from the speaker, "I'm helping Katherine right now, so just enter the code 1345 then head straight to the manor."

Adam pressed the talk button once more, "Alright, thanks man." He entered the code and the loud creaking of the gates could be heard as it opened.

Isabel was the next to get out of the car. She looked at the atmosphere then at Adam. "Lovely…" She said sarcastically and raised a brow.

Adam nodded, agreeing to her sarcasm then walked over to the window of Donald's seat and knocked on it to wake him up.

Donald joined them and stood beside them as they looked in slight horror of the manor and the large amounts of snow that surrounded it.

"Well, we're dead." Donald spoke finally.

"Don't say that Donald. It's not funny." Isabel shook her head.

After a moment of silence the three grabbed their luggage from the trunk and made their way to the manor along the stretching and dirt covered path.

As Adam kept walking, he looked around and saw the large and rusted machine to the far right of the manor. It looked at least a century old, what was it used for?

He looked back at the path then at the machine again.

Wait…What the hell was that?!

He saw a man but not a man? It was like a transparent man…Oh right….A ghost…A ghost?! Adam was quite far from him so he couldn't make out the ghost's details. He could just tell it wasn't human. Adam looked back at the manor real quick to see if his friends, who were far ahead of him, were looking in his direction as well. He then turned his head to look where the ghost was and…..

That's…Impossible….He-He vanished!

Maybe he just imagined it…After all he was reading a lot of murder files and watched a horror movie on his phone on the flight. Adam shook his head to snap back to reality. He continued walking along the path, happy he was nearly to the manor. He opened his friends and they knocked on the door.

The large black doors creaked open and they stepped inside….


	4. Reunion

_((Hey guys sorry for the late post I haven't been feeling well, so here's chapter four as promised, I'll post an update about chapter five.))_

 **Reunion**

Rick entered the large manor with Eva and Mara. They walk in the manor and looked around.

Rick smiled at the sight of his friends all here. "Great! I'm glad everyone got here safely. Where's Henry and Katherine?" He looked around and turned to Adam.

Adam shrugged, "Haven't seen him, he just told us he was helping Katherine with her luggage when we spoke on the intercom box."

Rick nodded and went up the stairs to find them.

Isabel, Donald and Mara were off to the side, catching up on their time away from each other.

Adam walked over to Eva. He smiled, "It's good to see you again."

Eva smiled back, "You too. How's a life of stopping crime going?" She set her bag down, deciding she would give her arms a rest.

"Oh you know. Boring. Just paperwork." Adam teased.

Eva chuckled, "Just paperwork? Poor thing."

"How's saving lives?" Adam nudged her.

"Boring." Eva winked.

Adam and Eva spent some time catching up and wondered why Rick and Henry were so mysterious and what they had planned. They say their friends congregating and laughing about something. They decided to see what was up. They went to rejoin their group then they heard the topic of discussion.

 _Katherine._

Eva rolled her eyes and Adam crosses his arms over his chest. Both of them knew what it could be about.

True, Katherine had not been nice to them in their senior year of college but it had been five years since then. Things change and so should their anticipations.

Mara could guess by their body language that they heard what was going on. "We're just a bit wary of her." She forced a smile.

"Uh huh, even though we haven't even met her. It's been five years, let it go." Adam shook his head in disapproval.

"I agree." Eva nodded.

Mara sighed, "Well I guess just as long as she doesn't try anything."

Isabel nodded as did Donald.

"Speak of the devil and the devil shall come." Mara said as she saw Henry, Rick and Katherine walking down the stairs.

"Well the gang's all here." Henry smiled widely. He was quick to get to the bottom of the stairs and hugged everyone. He hugged Eva the longest.

Henry had always enjoyed Eva's company, and that was beside the fact that he had a small crush on her. He never told her though, he was unsure of his feelings as well as her own. "It's great to see you guys." He smiled softly at Eva.

"You as well Henry. You and Rick owe us an explanation about this though. This mysteriousness." Eva chuckled.

"We just wanted to surprise you!" Rick interrupted as Henry was about to answer her.

Henry just nodded.

Rick smirked as everyone came in to the center. He pulled out his small camera in his pocket. "Say cheese!" He smiled widely. He took a selfie with everyone in the background. "Beautiful, one for the scrapbook for sure." He looked at the photo.

Katherine raised a brow, "Sure it is hun. But let's stay on topic, while it is great to have everyone here, I agree with Eva here, there's more to this isn't there?"

"You guys know how much Henry loves history and you know how much I like to be mysterious. Combine the two and this is the result. There's nothing more I promise." Rick smiled.

Henry nodded, "Yes, I promise as well. It'll be fun!"

Isabel and Mara rolled their eyes.

Donald laughed.

Adam leaned against the wall.

Eva just raised a brow and nodded, believing Henry more than Rick.

Rick and Henry looked at each other, smiling. "Don't worry. Tomorrow you'll see how fun this vacation is going to be." Rick said.

"That sounded ominous." Mara commented.

Henry stepped forward. "How about I show everyone to their rooms and we all rest up for tomorrow?" He offered.

The group agreed and Rick and Henry escorted everyone to their rooms.

Adam and Donald shared a room with two beds by the lift which Henry told them to never use since it was broken.

Which made both men wonder how Henry, since he told them, got from the room that he and Rick shared in the attic to the main room downstairs?

Maybe it was working but they didn't want anyone to use it in case it would break? Or maybe they wanted it to themselves? But why? Everyone here is understanding adults...Or maybe they were trying to keep Katherine out?

Adam knew Katherine would abuse the lift...If it was in sanitary condition that is.

The questions were subsided away when they were led into their room. They were in awe at the luxurious bed and decor but were also in awe because of its decrepit walls.

After the two were settled in their room, Henry met up with Rick who had helped Katherine settle in her room to escort the rest of the women to their rooms.

Isabel, Mara and Eva all had their own rooms but right next to each other.

They all decided that it'd be best to sleep for the rest of the evening and to discuss their plans tomorrow after they had gotten proper rest.

Though it was difficult for them to sleep. They kept hearing noises throughout the evening.

It sounded a lot like….

Footsteps and….

The sound of something being dragged across the hallway….


	5. First Night

**First Night**

Morning came and the sun shined so brightly. Its warm rays reflected the window panes and spread through the glass.

It awoke Donald and Adam. They both looked at each other, understanding that neither of them slept properly.

Adam looked at his phone, it was 6 in the morning. He grumbled and walked down the stairs. He looked around for the kitchen then saw Eva walking out of a room with a cup of tea.

Eva stopped when she saw him, for a minute she had mistaken him for an intruder. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand and looked at Adam.

The dark brown haired man couldn't help but chuckle, "No sleep huh?" He walked over to his friend and smiled. He looked at the room she had come out of. "Ah there's the kitchen, is there enough water to make two cups of tea, also is there any honey?" He asked his friend.

Eva yawned and nodded, "Uh huh."

Adam patted Eva's shoulder gently, "Thanks Eva, go rest." He smiled and walked into the kitchen.

Eva went back into her room with her tea.

Adam took a few minutes to make two cups of tea and headed back into his room. He gave a cup to Donald and took a sip of his own. They drank their tea in silence hoping it would help put them to sleep.

It worked. Maybe a little too well, since they passed out after a few sips, but they were able to get some rest and that's all they cared about.

Four hours later…

Eva woke up with a gasp and noticed her tea had spilled on her bed. She remembered vaguely that she had a few sips before passing out. She yawned and got off her bed. She would change her sheets later.

She changed her clothes into a blue sweater, black sweatpants and grey slipper socks. She walked downstairs and saw all her friends up and about.

"Did I oversleep?" Eva tilted her head.

"Yeah but it's okay, we're all still recovering from jetlag except our gracious hosts who've made us herbal tea." Her sister said as she gestured to her cup before sipping it.

Eva nodded and Henry approached her with a smile.

"Hi Eva, I hope you had some sleep, I noticed the spilled tea cup in your room. I would've come in to clean it up but I didn't want to alarm you. So I figured maybe you'd like a different type of tea." He offered her the herbal beverage.

Eva smiled and took the cup from his hands gently. "Thanks….Yeah I wasn't sure what I had just made." She chuckled, "It was just something hot I wanted to drink before going back to bed."

"You should be careful next time, imagine if that was….Something dangerous…This house is old and who knows how old those teas are in the cabinets." Henry said concerned.

Eva nodded, and thanked him once more before moving to sit next to her sister on the couch.

Adam and Donald came out of the kitchen with teas in their hands too. They heard Eva's comment and told her that they were the same.

Eva furrowed her brows but referred them to Henry's comment and all three decided not to experiment with teas anymore.

Rick came downstairs with a pamphlet in his hand and smiled at his friends.

"Now that we're all awake, I thought I should give everyone some good news! It stopped snowing last night which means we can spend the first day exploring the city." He handed Henry the pamphlet.

"There's a local library, a post office, a police station and stores." Henry smiled.

Katherine raised a brow, "Wow sounds so exciting…." She rolled her eyes and set the cup down.

"Look anything is better than staying here right now. I had a shitty sleep and I'd like to get some fresh air." Eva stood up stretched.

"I think some fresh air is a good idea." Rick smirked.

Henry nodded in agreement. "Let's get ready and go…Wherever?" He chuckled.

The gang finished their teas except for Eva and left for their rooms to get ready.

They were all dressed for the snow and after some more debating, they decided to split up.

Eva, Henry and Mara would go to the library.

Rick, Katherine, and Donald would go to the stores…Of course for Katherine.

Isabel, and Adam would go to the post office.

They all exited the house and made their way down the path to the gate.

As they walked away, a ghostly figure stood at the steps of the house watching them, then disappeared.


	6. To The Library!

**Author's Note:** Thanks so much for your patience, views and support! I am back! I've just been so busy with school, internship and work. I'm graduating next month so it's all like BLARGHHGHGH! But anyway, I have plans to post Chapter 7 and 8 this week. :)

 **To The Library!**

The library, like the rest of the town, had been remodeled and modernized. The library had the same old look on the outside but inside it was a bookworm's dream. It had tall shelves, so many books, and yes, even a coffee shop. The trio was excited. Eva and Henry were excited at the site and variety of books and Mara was excited for the coffee shop.

Mara left them quickly to go to the coffee shop. Once she got her coffee, she grabbed an issue of Vanity Fair and sat at a table.

Eva and Henry began to wander into the aisles.

Eva was looking for mystery books.

And Henry…was looking for Eva.

His eyes on her movements as he watched her from the opposite side of shelf.

Eva thumbed through some books and took one off. She nearly screamed when she saw Henry's face behind it. She pushed the book back in aggressively and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not funny." She shook her head.

Henry laughed, "Oh come on that was hilarious!" He walked around the shelf and made his way to her. He smiled at her.

Eva just shook her head and moved to look at the books once more.

Henry's eyes gazed upon her. He moved one hand to gently take the hand she was using to thumb through the books.

Eva looked at Henry and raised a brow, "Henry what are you doing?"

Henry said nothing and pulled the brunette closer. His eyes on hers, he was holding her close.

Eva looked at him, "What are you doing..." She couldn't help but blush. She gently pushed him away.

Henry leaned in and whispered, "Got you again."

Eva swallowed deeply and looked into his eyes, "Well I don't find this funny." She whispered back.

Henry leaned in closer, "My humblest of apologies my fair lady, allow me to make it up to you."

Eva suddenly felt his lips against hers. She blushed more but continued to kiss back.

The kiss, while it seemed long, was quite short. The kiss itself was deep and Eva didn't want to pull back, but eventually she needed to breathe.

She pulled back gently and smiled shyly.

"I do hope that has made you feel better, my dear." Henry smirked.

Eva just nodded and smiled.

Both of them suddenly heard Mara calling Eva.

"I think you are needed." Henry smiled.

Eva smiled a little, "Y-Yeah….I'll be right back."

Henry kissed her knuckles and watched her go.

Henry moved the book he had hidden from Eva when he kissed her. The book she was about to pick up before he interrupted her. He look at the title and picked up more books to hide it.

This book was a detailed history of Allerdale Hall…


	7. Ye Ole Shop of Attitude

**Ye Ole Shop of Attitude**

Donald, Rick and Katherine went to the small shopping center, which was even farther than the bookstore. Rick wanted to stop by an antique store, Donald was tagging along and Katherine wanted to buy some new boots.

The trio decided to go to the antique shop first, it titled _Cumbria Antiques_.

Rick seemed to know what he was looking for and immediately rushed in to get the item. Katherine stayed by the door, refusing to go in any further worrying that she'd see something too tacky for her taste. Donald walked around the section of small knickknacks.

Katherine pulled out her phone, checking her messages to see if there was anything to distract herself with. "Ugh boring politic reports, I don't want to spend my time evaluating them."

"I thought you were a news anchor?" Donald said as he approached her with a small figure of Allerdale Hall.

"Reporter. I'm a reporter and a reporter has a variety of tasks….Hey isn't that where we're staying?" She pointed to the model.

Donald nodded, "Yeah isn't it cool!"

"Not really, that place is creepy. Can Rick hurry up, I need new boots." Katherine put her phone away and rolled her eyes.

Donald sighed and walked away, putting the model back.

"Waste of my time." Katherine mumbled.

"Can you at least pretend you're enjoying yourself?" Donald snapped.

"I don't like lying." Katherine glared.

"Isn't that what reporters do anyway? Lie about everything and how 'concerned' they are when they're really happy about a story because they make money?" Donald stared her down. He had enough of her foul attitude.

"First off, that's not how we get paid and second, we don't lie about anything." Katherine gritted her teeth.

"Yeah, what's the third thing then?" Donald challenged her further.

"I'm leaving." Katherine huffed and walked out of the store.

Donald watched her go and took in a deep breath to clear his head. He then frowned, "I-I shouldn't have said that." He went out to follow her.

Rick came back with a chalice in his hand, he looked around for his friends then saw them out the window. He purchased the chalice quickly and joined his two friends.

"What happened?" He asked Katherine.

Of course she said nothing.

Rick went over to Donald, and Donald explained in a soft voice so she couldn't hear.

Rick chuckled, "You both need to start having fun. Come on, Katherine, let's get your boots and have some fun." He took her hand and led both of them into a shoe store. He paid for her boots, much to Donald's protest, and the trio headed back out.

Katherine then suggested the idea of lunch.

At the diner the trio sat and Rick had to do most of the talking since Katherine still was upset. He suddenly got a text and excused himself to check it.

It was from Henry...

It read 'Heading back to Allerdale, see you soon.'

Rick smirked, quickly replying with an 'Ok' then bringing his attention back to his two friends, thinking about how to get them heading back there as well.

He had to find the right motivation...


	8. Author's Note: Feedback

Hi everyone, so this chapter or author's note really is specifically for your feedback.

What do you think of the story thus far?

Improvements?

Things You Like?

Grammar Errors?

Future Ideas in the Story?

PLEASE let me know! I really want your feedback before this story gets deep into the plot!


	9. Letters of Suspicion

**Author's Note:** While this story is going on, I will create a poll for an idea to create a new story while I work on this one too. I will also be creating a poll about ideas or improvements for this story! Thanks for reading! :)

 **Chapter 8**

Adam and Isabel took the path to go to the post office. The most boring quest for the two.

They were surprised at how old the office was. They walked toward the large cubby of mail assigned to addresses.

Adam went over and took the letters from the address of the manor. Isabel refused to get near the cubby, deeming it unsanitary.

Adam then saw something else in the cubby. A package….

"Guess someone got a gift." Isabel shrugged and took the letters from Adam so he could check the package.

"It's addressed to all of us." Adam said and swallowed hard.

Isabel nearly dropped the letters and move to the package. "What?"

"Look. To Katherine, Mara, Eva, Isabel, Adam, Henry, Donald and Rick." Adam pointed to the line with the names.

Adam moved to open the package. He normally would have waited to open it in front of everyone but he wanted to be sure it wasn't anything dangerous. He looked inside and there were papers and a small wrapped up package inside. Well at least it wasn't unsafe. He closed the package, deciding to open it again with the group.

Isabel tapped Adam on the shoulder and showed him an envelope. "It's a letter to us as well."

"From who? The package doesn't say a return address." Adam looked at her, getting freaked out a bit.

"From Lucille Sharpe….Owner of Allerdale Hall." Isabel looked in confusion and showed him the envelope.

"What is going on….We need to get back to the mansion. We have to warn everyone." Adam looked to Isabel and she nodded. They both put the letters and package in their bag and ran out.

Unknown to them someone had been watching them and stepped out from the shadows of the room when they left.


End file.
